This invention relates to sun protection compositions containing dialkyl carbonates and UV filters and to the use of the dialkyl carbonates as solvents or dispersants for UV filters.
In the production of sun protection compositions, it is important inter alia to dissolve or disperse the insoluble UV filters so reliably that sedimentation is avoided, even in the event of prolonged storage. It is known from the customer information booklet "INFORMATION Kosmetik No. III/97 of Henkel KGaA (January 1997) that coconut fatty acid glycerides commercially available as Myritol 331 have good dissolving properties for crystalline UV filters and increase UV absorption by comparison with non-polar UV filters. Sun protection compositions containing these substances are also known, for example, from DE-A1 19631792 (Henkel). Besides the stability of the compositions, however, an equally important quality feature so far as the consumer is concerned is that the compositions should spread quickly and lastingly on the skin which requires the presence of a carefully balanced mixture of oil components from various spreading ranges. In the case of sun protection compositions, relatively high percentages of quick-spreading oils are required to support the rapid and uniform spreading of the sensorially heavy UV filters.
Accordingly, the complex problem addressed by the present invention was to provide oil components which would be high-spreading, which would have good dissolving or dispersing properties for UV filters and which, at the same time, would synergistically support UV absorption.